From the prior art toe bindings with a safety release or adjustable holding force limit for the front section of a ski shoe are known in many different embodiments. Toe bindings of this kind have retaining devices or safety release devices, which can be regulated with regard to the holding force or holding moment within a predefined adjustment range. Furthermore, said toe bindings consist of a ski-secure positionable housing or base element, on which a sole holder designed in one piece or multiple parts can be pivoted against the effect of force of the safety release device, in order to release the boot or the boot tip from the ski binding when the preset limit is exceeded. The sole holder is configured in plan view to be substantially V- or fork-shaped, whereby the two sole holder arms, which run relative to one another in a V- or fork shape, are used at least for the lateral support of the toe section of a boot. In this case either the one-piece, fork-shaped sole holder or each of the two sole holder arms running in a V-shape relative one another are pivotable against the effect of force of the retaining device, which usually comprises a release spring, about at least one vertically aligned axis. On exceeding a predefined limit value, in particular a release threshold, the boot is then released at least in lateral direction.
With such toe bindings it is known to make either the clear spacing or the spreading angle between the sole holder arms adjustable, in order in this way to adjust the one-piece or multiple part sole holder to the respective shoe width or sole width to be mounted. In this way it is possible to mount boot tips of varying widths with only one type of individually adjustable toe binding or sole holder. According to DE 20 07 306 A1 a sole width adjustment is performed in that the outer end sections of the two V-shaped sole holder arms are connected respectively in an articulated manner to a base part, which base part on exceeding the pre-adjusted holding moment can be rotated about a perpendicular axis and thus releases the boot from the ski. In particular, by changing the angular position of the outer end sections of the sole holder parts relative to the base part the clear distance between the sole holder arms can be adjusted.
According to DE 26 27 305 A1 the mounting width between the sole holder arms is adjusted to the respective sole width not by an angular adjustment between the sole holder arms, but by a parallel adjustment between the two sole holder arms. By means of parallel displacement similarly the clear spacing between the sole holder arms can be changed in order to fit the respective sole widths.
In the aforementioned embodiments thus either an angle between the sole holder arms can be adjusted as necessary or alternatively a parallel spacing can be changed by means of an adjusting device, in order to allow an adjustment to the respective sole width, for example an adjustment to the width of a children's sole or an adult sole.
Also DE 28 02 251 A1 proposes measures by means of which the mounting width of the sole holder can be adjusted to different sole widths. Said sole holder, which is designed to be rigid and in one piece, comprises two V-shaped sole holder arms, which mount sliding units for the shoe to reduce the frictional contact between the shoe and the sole holder arms as far as possible. Said sliding units are mounted to be either replaceable or adjustable relative to the sole holder arms, such that the shoe bearing points on the sliding units can adopt at least two different spacings from the middle longitudinal axis of the binding. Also in this way there is an adjustment of the clear spacing between the sole holder arms to the respective sole width. The proposed changes in position of the sliding units should thus ensure that the lever arm for side releases is kept constant as far as possible in relation to the pivot axis of the sole holder, in order in the case of sole width adjustments to prevent changes to the safety release values. In particular, by means of said sliding units that are adjustable independently of one another or can be shifted separately from one another on the sole holder arms it is achieved that the release behaviour of the binding remains unchanged regardless of the respectively used ski shoe. The disadvantage of these known embodiments is that the left sole holder arm is changed relative to the right sole holder arm, to make adjustments to shoe sizes. The risk of maladjustments, in particular uneven adjustments between the left and right binding is increased in this way. In particular, there is a risk that both sole holder parts can be adjusted unevenly so that the binding is only usable in certain circumstances. The independent adjustability between the left and right sole holder arms is, in addition to increased susceptibility to error, time-consuming and can only be performed primarily by experts, to avoid having disadvantageous effects on the safety release values of the safety ski binding.
According to EP 0 620 030 B1 the heel mechanism of a ski binding is configured so that the natural foot position, i.e. the anatomical V-position of the feet, is maintained as far as possible when connecting the foot to a ski. This ensures an optimum edge grip and increases safety during skiing. The desired effects are achieved in that the heel hold-down device on the heel mechanism is connected off-centre to the binding unit, so that the middle axis of the heel hold-down device running in the direction of the ski longitudinal axis compared to the longitudinal axis of the binding unit maintains an angular deviation in lateral direction, whereby the heel of a ski shoe inserted in the ski binding is offset laterally in relation to the longitudinal axis of the binding unit. This off-centre position of the heel hold-down on the heel mechanism can also be adjusted variably according to one development and can be fixed as desired. Proposed technical solutions for the lateral relative adjustment between the heel hold-down and the heel mechanism are not described. The disadvantage of this is that it is structurally complex to change the lateral relative position between the heel hold-down and the housing of the heel mechanism. Furthermore, technical operations on the heel mechanism are relatively expensive and spontaneous or short-term changes of adjustments on the heel mechanisms for an end user of the ski binding are not possible. Rather only a factory production of heel mechanisms with varying lateral adjustments for the different foot positions or V-positions of the users is possible.
Independently of the configuration of ski binding components, designed already by the factory especially for use on the left or right foot, embodiments are known, in which directly on the sports shoe, especially on the ski boot, individual sole parts or sole extensions can be offset laterally, in order to obtain individual alignments of the boot longitudinal axis relative to the ski longitudinal axis. In particular, by means of the boot a so-called lateral offset or angular deviation can be achieved between the boot longitudinal axis and the ski longitudinal axis. Such configurations are described e.g. in DE 32 25 336 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,702 A or EP 1 316 265 B1 of the applicant. A disadvantage of this is that changes to the sole construction of the sports shoe are performed usually prior to practising sport, i.e. in preparation, and a short-term or spontaneous change in the alignment between the shoe sole and the shell parts of the shoe is virtually impossible in practice.
Furthermore, from DE 36 05 313 A1 a side-release safety ski binding for securing a ski boot tip is known. This comprises two side bindings laterally securing the ski boot and a release spring extending substantially in longitudinal direction of the ski, which is supported on the ski-secured binding housing and loads the side release mechanism with a force directed away from the ski boot, in particular to the front. The side bindings, the side release mechanism and the action point of the release spring on the side release mechanism are thus arranged on a support part that can be pivoted upwards in relation to the binding housing about a transverse axis. The transverse axis of this support part is a defined distance above the action line of the release spring, so that a predefined hold-down force originating from the release spring acts on the ski boot sole. Said ski binding allows both safety releases in lateral direction and safety releases in vertical direction, so that also so-called backwards rotational falls are taken into consideration or are at least cushioned. A functionally similar embodiment is described in EP 0 389 757 B1. Technical measures for the individual adjustment of the operating settings of these known toe bindings to various requirements of the user or varying user anatomies are not described in these documents.